The Rise and Rise of Bangladesh in ODI Cricket; Tigers Unbeatable at Home
Bangladesh have now won four home series in a row against Zimbabwe, Pakistan, India and now South Africa, winning 12 out of 14 ODIs in the process
Bangladesh confirmed their rise as a major force in 50 overs cricket when they thrashed South Africa by 9 wickets in the third One-Day International at Chittagong on Wednesday to claim a 2-1 series victory. It was their first ever series victory over the Proteas in any format.
Bangladesh have now won four home series in a row against Zimbabwe, Pakistan, India and now South Africa, winning 12 out of 14 ODIs in the process. In addition, they beat England at the ICC World Cup earlier this year and took New Zealand right down to the wire in the same tournament.
The 2-1 triumph helped Bangladesh cement ICC Champions Trophy 2017 qualification, as well as seventh place in the ICC ODI team rankings. Bangladesh have also closed the gap on sixth-placed England to two points, while South Africa remain in fourth place but have dropped three rankings points to 109. India remain No. 2 and Australia are on top.
The fact that Bangladesh beat South Africa by seven wickets in one match and by nine wickets in the next shows just how dominant they have been in the latter part of this series.
Their bowlers again dominated the South African top order up front as they restricted South Africa to a total of 168/9 in a game reduced to 40 overs after a rain interruption and then coasted to victory with 83 balls to spare.
Man of the match, Soumya Sarkar, finished with 90 (75 minutes, 13 fours and a six) while Tamim Iqbal contributed 61 (77 balls, 7 fours). Their partnership of 154 was a Bangladesh record for any wicket against South Africa.
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Sarkar had a series he won't forget in a hurry and his scores of 27, 88 not out and 90 propelled Bangladesh to victory and also vaulted the 22-year-old 35 places in the ICC rankings for ODI batsmen to a career high 15th on 671 points. Another upward mover for the Bangla Tigers was Nasir Hossain, who has moved up one place to 37th.
In the ICC rankings for ODI bowlers, Shakib Al Hasan has moved up one place to seventh and now lies just one place, and three points, behind Australia's Mitchell Johnson.
Shakib joined his captain Mashrafe Mortaza in claiming their 200th ODI wickets in the third ODI in Chittagong and Mortaza has now moved up two places to 26th.
But the biggest movers were Rubel Hossain (up 15 places to 40th), Mustafizur Rahman (up 19 to 69th), Mahmudullah (up 15 to 75th) and Nasir Hossain (up 18 to a career high 92nd). This has truly been a golden period for Bangladesh cricket.